The first meeting of the ‘EU Coalition for Vaccination’, convened by the European Commission Directorate General on Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) united student and healthcare professional organisations for a common goal in early March, following the call in the Council Conclusions on Vaccination. EFA was represented through the ‘Steering Committee on Influenza Vaccination’, of which we are part of.
The EU Coalition for Vaccination will commit to work together on actions that are missing, such as healthcare professionals’ leadership for example, or where there are gaps, like education on vaccination, benefits, risks and communication for students in relevant sectors. The work will be mainly done throughout the EU Health Policy Platform, online platform coordinated by the European Commission, and will depend on commitments, also those of the EU institutions itself as well as those of the Member States.
Patient groups role is missing
The Commission is a strong believer in the role of healthcare professionals in improving prevention through vaccination, and EFA entirely agrees, but unfortunately, it ignores the potential role patient organisations can commit to.
EFA is looking for our role among all the urging issues people with allergy, asthma and COPD face. It could be interesting to survey patients to understand the real issues for not getting vaccinated, from a patient’s perspective, and to build targeted communication for people with allergy, asthma and COPD addressing those issues thatrefrain them.
EFA Members produce a huge amount of patient education materials for the communities they know. Vaccination can be an integral part of it.
We believe seasonal vaccination should be easy and part of the normal healthcare plan for people with relevant or severe chronic diseases. We also think information on risk and benefits should be honest and up to date.
To see web streaming of part of the EU Coalition for Vaccination meeting, click here.